Twenty-Mile Encampment : story of a reunion and the dedication of a tablet marking this historic spot, at Twenty-Mile Stream, August 26, 1909

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Tw^nt\J-(%ile Encampment

Story of a Reunion and the Dedication of a Tablet Marking
this Historic Spot, at Twenty-Mile Stream, August 26, 1909.

Reprinted from Vermont Tribune, Sept. 2, 1909

The third annual Twenty-Mile
Stream reunion and basket picnic at
the District No. 5 schoolhouse in
Cavendish last Thursday was much
more largely attended than any pre-
vious one, which in itself is an evi-
dence of the growing interest in
these gatherings. Each year brings
together more people from far away
to greet each other and to recall old
memories of school days. The time
was very largely devoted to general
sociability and the renewal and re-
vival of former friendships and ac-
quaintances.

It would be impossible to mention
all those present who came from a
distance or who were connected
with the school or the neighborhood
in days long ago; but one instance
in particular merits attention. Jas-
per N. Clark of Scottville, Mich., a
civil war veteran of the 2d Vermont
infantry, met his old teacher, Mrs
Susan Adams Fullerton of South
Woodstock, who taught the last
term of school which he attended in
the old schoolhouse in the fall of 1859.

Among other old-timers present
were Mrs Charles Stearns of Browns-
ville,, who was a pupil in 1855 ; Mrs
Sarah Tilden Woodward of Shrews-

bury, pupil in 1859 ; Mrs Clara I. C,
Nye of Athol, Mass., pupil in 1860 j
Mrs Clara Lawrence Lamberton of
North Pomfret, pupil in 1865; Dj
William R. White of Providence, R
I.," teacher in 1869; William H.
Davis of Boston, pupil in 1878; Mr
and Mrs J. M. Pratt of Ashburn-
ham, Mass., who were residents in
the neighborhood in 1840.

The next reunion will be held
August 26, 1910. To insure the con-
tinuation of these gatherings a per-
manent organization was effected
and the following officers were chosen
for the coming year: President,
Frank L. Bigelow ; vice-president,
Sanford E. Emery ; secretary, Mrs
Florence E. Haven ; treasurer, Mrs
James P. Green ; executive com-
mittee, in addition to the above. J.
AshtonSpaulding, Charles P. Chase,
B. F. Sherwin, and Mrs Willis L.
Spaulding.

THE DEDICATION.

Interesting Ceremonies around
the Tablet — Historical Reviews
and Personal Reminiscences.

After dinner the large company
repaired, by team, by auto, and on
foot, to the site of the Encampjnent,
where the tablet had been erected ;
and here, for two hours.or more, the
exercises continued, with historical

addresses, personal reminiscences,
and sundry other features which
tended to stir local pride and give
Twenty-Mile Stream the prominence
it deserved as historic ground. Now
and then, in the interim between
the speeches, the Ludlow Cornet
Band waked the echoes and contrib-
uted to the general success of the
occasion. And the skies were most
benign.

P. L. Bigelow of Rutland presided
efficiently and kept thing's moving
briskly. In his introductory remarks
he said: "It is indeed a pleasure to
welcome you here this afternoon,
and I wish I were able to express to
you the gratification it gives to those
havingf these exercises in charge to
see that so many have interested
themselves sufficiently to be present
and assist us in the dedication of
this tablet, which is designed to lo-
cate in a permanent manner the old-
est point of historical interest in
this section, antedating- as it does
not only the Revolutionary war but
even the settlement of the town —
the site of the old Twenty-Mile En-
campment, twenty miles from
Charlestown, N. H., on the line of
the military road constructed by the
British from Charlestown, N. H., to
Ticonderog"a, N. Y., and which gave
the name to Twenty- Mile Stream."

The tablet was then unveiled by
Miss Bessie Spaulding and Misses
Christine and Dorothy Big-elow,
great great - great - granddaug-hters
of Samuel Ames and great-grand-
daughters of James Smith, Jr., both
of whom lived on the farm where
this tablet stands.

Chairman Big-elow then said: "The
stone to which this tablet is at-
tached is of rather unusual dimen-
sions, but it was thought eminently
fitting- and proper to use for that
purpose— the capstone of the Ord-
way mill, long a landmark on Twen-

ty Mile Stream, and owned and op-
erated for so many years by the two
brothers, D. and Z. K. Ordway, both
of whom were old residents of the
town and men of unusually strong
personality. The credit for the
erection of this. tablet at this time
belongs primarily to James Ashton
Spaulding, a man who is better in-
formed on the early history, geog-
raphy and topography of this sec-
tion than any man I know, and it is
through his initiative and energy
that we are permitted to dedicate it
at this time. He is a lineal descend-
ant from James Hall, who was for-
cibly impressed into the service of
the British army in England and
came to America as a sergeant ; was
one of the force sent to destroy the
military stores of the American
army at Concord; was stunned by an
American bullet and left on the
field. As his comrades were passing
he heard them say, "Serg't Hall is
killed !" Remaining perfectly quiet
until the troops had passed, he em-
braced the first opportunity to es-
cape and join the American army.
He was among the early settlers in
this section and made the thirteenth
family to settle in Cavendish. To-
day is the 86th anniversary of his
death. Is it strange that with such
an ancestry his great-grandson
should be intensely interested in
matters of this kind?"

The tablet was then decorated
with the national colors by Mr
Spaulding 's three daughters, Misses
Annie, Hildie and Florence, great-
great-granddaughters of Sergeant
James Hall of the British army. One
of the flags used in the decoration
has been owned by the family since
1861.

In introducing Albin S. Burbank
of Proctorsville, who gave the his-
torical address, Mr Bigelow said :
"Your presence here demonstrates
again that tendency which is hap-
pily growing of marking these old

points of interest. Every town has
some landmark which is worthy of
being preserved in some permanent
manner, at least for local interest.
This spot, however, is of peculiar in-
terest, inasmuch as that interest is
not wholly local. We all realize, I
think, that matters of this kind are
put off altogether too long, and how
much easier it would have been
twenty or thirty years ago to collect
material while there were people
living who personally remembered
many features of interest relative
to this road and camp. Nearly
everyone in this section has always
known that Twenty-Mile Stream de-
rived its name from a camp located
near this point and on a military
road, but those who had ever
thought of the matter at all sup-
posed the road had been built in
Kevolutionary times or by the early
settlers, and it was not generally
supposed that it was constructed by
the British and even before the
town was settled. So we really
knew but little about it ; and yet
how much we might have known.

"As a small boy I recall Captain
Hall's telling me on one occasion
that on this piece of ground was lo-
cated at one time a British camp,
and how at various times flintlocks
had been plowed up here, and on one
occasion he remembered that the
remains of two men had been plowed
up here, and from the buttons or
something of the sort found at the
time they knew them to be the * re-
mains of British soldiers. I under-
stand, too, that he remembered an
old building that was, or had been
at one time, a permanent feature of
the camp. It is a fact, too, that
Wm. Smith, born here- in 1800, and
whose father, James Smith, settled
here in 1790, could have given us
valuable information relative to this
camp. But all these opportunities
are past and gone, and it now be-
comes necessary to depend on such
permanent records as can be found

and which are not easy to locate.
We are extremely fortunate in hav-
ing a fellow townsman who is in-
tensely interested in matters of this
kind, and who has availed himself
of every known opportunity of get-
ting together information relative
to this road, and is better informed
on this subject than any other man.
He has kindly consented to give us
the benefit of this information."

Mr. Burbank's Historical Address

We are assembled to commemorate an .
event and mark a spot which has much
historic interest, it being the principal
camp ground and stopping place on the
line of the first road cut through the
wilderness from Lake Champlain to the
Connecticut, and which was used through
the latter part of the French and Indian
war for transportation of troops and sup-
plies for the English army and later by
the armies of the American revolution for
the same purpose. This is historic
ground and has been trodden by many
thousand soldiers in those early days.

There is a tradition that the cannon
captured by Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga
were taken to Boston over this route, but
we are unable at this late day to verify
the legend. In order that we may better
understand the necessity for this road
(which was a great undertaking for those
days) I shall recall some points in the
early history of the Colonies, and take up
some of the important events connected
therewith, giving prominence to No. 4,
which was so intimately connected with
the road.

At the end of Queen Anne's war in
1 7 1 3 there was no English settlement or
lodgement on the Connecticut river above
Greenfield, then "Green River Farms," a
.district of Deerfield.

In i7i4Northfield became permanently
established as the frontier town. During

Tather Rales war of 1722—5, which was
mainly a rising of some of the Indians
tribes led by the Jesuit priest and backed
by the French Governor Vandrieul, the
outpost was advanced up the west side
of the river above Northfield with the
erection of Fort Dummer,now Brattleboro.
"With the close of that war Fort Dummer
became a truck house for trading with the
then peaceful Indians coming down from
Canada and soon a slender settlement of
traders grew up about it. This was the
pioneer setttement of the upper valley of
the Connecticut. It was the nucleus of
Brattleboro, chartered and named some
years later, the first English township in
what is now Vermont. It remained the
only upper valley settlement until about
1740.

Fort Dummer was erected by the prov-
ince of Massachusetts for the protection
of the northwestern frontier of Massa-
chusetts and Connecticut. It was ordered
to be garrisoned by forty able men (Eng-
lish) and western Mohawk Indians. The
site of the fort is in the southeastern
portion of the town of Brattleboro, still
known as Dummer's meadows. It was
built under the supervision of Col. John
Stoddard of Northampton. Lieut. Tim-
othy Dwight had immediate charge of the
work and was the first commander of the
fort. He was an ancestor of Pres. Tim-
othy Dwight of Yale.

The fort was built on what was known as
the equivalent lands, which were four par-
cels of unoccupied tracts along the west
banks of the river between the present
limits of Brattleboro, Dummerston and
Putney, 107,793 acres in all, which Mass-
achusetts had transferred to Connecticut in
settlement of colonial lines. Afterwards
Connecticut granted them back to Mass-
achusetts. Thirty years later these town-
ships (complaining of Massachusetts tax-
ation) again of their own motion shifted
back to Connecticut . Shortly afterward
Connecticut sold them at public vendue
and gave the proceeds to Yale college,
j They brought a little more than a farthing
per acre. The purchase fell to four Mass-
£ achusetts men ; these were William
■L Dummer, lieutenant - governor of the

province, William Brattle of Cam-
bridge and Anthony Stoddard and
John White of Boston. Hence the.
name of the fort for the Governor and the
town for the Cambridge man. The. fort
was a stout structure built of yellow pine
and thought to be proof against ordinary
assaults, but in October following the
completion (1724) it was attacked by In-
dians and four or five of the garrison
killed or wounded. Subsequently a stock-
ade was built around it, composed of stout
square hewn timbers twelve feet long, set
upright in the ground, inclosing an acre
and a half. This and No. 4 erected later
were the chief military outposts until the
conquest of Canada.

In 1740 three families from Lunenburg,
Mass., began the east side settlement of
No. 4, which later became Charlestown,
and in 1743 a fort was erected. Capt.
Phineas Stevens was early there and be-
came the hero of No. 4. He was a soldier
of exceptional ability and skill, and was
familiar with the methods of Indian war-
fare, having in his youth been a captive of
the St. Francis tribe, taken with his
brother at Rutland, Mass., during a raid
of Father Rales war. Late in March, 1746,
he, having been employed elsewhere, re-
turned with forty-nine men to No. 4, which
was now a plantation of nine or ten fam-
ilies, to save the fortfiom falling into the
hands of the enemy, and arrived just in
time, for a force of French and Indians,
under Ensign de Niverville was close up-
on it. On the 19th of April and in May
and June there were assaults by the In-
dians and in July the fort was besieged
for two days. Throughout the rest of the
summer it was blockaded. In August the
enemy destroyed all the horses, cattle and
hogs in the settlement and then withdrew.
No. 4 was evacuated and lay deserted un-
til spring 1747, when in March Capt.
Stevens again returned with thirty rangers.
He found the fori uninjured and received
a joyous welcome from two inmates — an
old spaniel and a cat left at the evacua-
tion. On the 4th of April a body of
trained French soldiers and Indian war-
riors appeared, [variously estimated at
from four to seven hundred, then followed

the siege which lasted for five days. But
Capt. Stevens and his men stood firm,
and although the enemy endeavored to
fire the fort, they were unsuccessful.

Finally at a parley the French com-
mander promised if the men would lay
down their arms and march out, their
lives would be spared, otherwise he would
set the fort on fire and run over the top
of it. Assembling his men, the captain
put it to vote whether to fight on or to
capitulate. All to a man voted to stand
it out as long as they had life. About
noon of the fifth day the enemy pro-
posed if the besieged would sell them
provisions they would leave and not fight
any more. To this the captain replied
he would not sell them provisions for
money, but if they would send in a cap-
tive for every five bushels of corn he
would supply them. Soon after a few
guns were fired and the enemy withdrew.
So ended the remarkable battle of 700
against 30. Of the enemy many were
slain, but the besieged had none killed
and only two wounded. An express car-
ried the news to Boston and Captain
Stevens' gallant defense won the admira-
tion, expressed in the gift of an elegant
sword, of Sir Charles Knowles of the
British navy, then in Boston, whose name
was subsequently bestowed on the settle-
ment as Charlestown.

Number 4, as the outermost post with
no settlement within 40 miles of it, again
bore the brunt of war through the troub-
led period of 1754 to 1760 and suffered
many hardships. It received the first
sharp shock of the outbreak when in
August, 1754, a band of Indians burst
into the house of Capt James Johnson,
seized the seven inmates and hurried
them all off to Canada, The story of the
adventures and sufferings of these cap-
tives as told in Mrs Johnson's narrative
is familiar to many of us.

In 1755 the Indians came swooping
down the valley again. About midsum-
mer news came that 500 Indians were
collecting in Canada to exterminate the
whole white population on the river.
The settlers were attacked at different
times at vv alpole, Bellows Falls and twice

at Hinsdale. While the assault at Wal-
pole was the last by the Indians in force,
roaming bands continued to infest the
frontier river towns till the close of the
war. In the spring of 1757 a band of
French and Indians came again upon
Charlestown, and attacking the settlers
carried five to Canada and there sold
them into slavery as usual ; only two sur-
vived their captivity. After the spring of
1757 Number 4 was undei the jurisdic-
tion of the king's officers. The fort was
the rendezvous of various colonial regi-
ments and a headquarters of rangers. In
1755 France was in possession of Canada
ana the shores of Lake Champlain, with
Fort Carrillon at Ticonderoga, Fort Fred-
erick at Crown Point, were also garri-
soned by 200 French regulars, 700 Cana-
dians and 600 Indians. The French
also had settlements in Louisiana. The
English occupied the country south of
Canada and west to the Ohio river. Bos-
ton was headquarters and seat of provin-
cial government for the Massachusetts
colonies.

England and France, aside from Euro-
pean complications, had cause enough
for war on this continent, France having
colonized Canada and Louisiana while
England had established colonies in be-
tween which separated the French settle-
ments. To connect the latter, and to
exclude England from the great fur trade
of the interior, France began to erect a
series of military posts from the Niagara
river to the mouth of the Mississippi.
This action was naturally resented by the
English and her American colonists and
in 1755 the conflict began by an attack on
the French forts in the Ohio valley.
George Washington himself fired the first
hostile shot in this the' French and In-
dian war, at a place about forty miles
from where the city of Pittsburg, Pa.,
now stands, and the fight was on between
the French and English to see which
should have supremacy on this continent.
The French enlisted some of the Indian
tribes as allies through the influence of
the Jesuit priests and practised many
barbarities. Thev gave the Indians a
bounty on the captives they brought in

alive, and then sold them as slaves to the
French residents of Montreal and vicin-
ity. In some cases the captives were
held for ransom and some times when
the price came it was held and the pris-
oners not liberated. The war had been
continued from 1755 to '58, the campaign
of the latter year had been very success-'
ful for the English, and their power was
steadily waxing as that of the French
waned. Several leading tribes of Indians
joined the six nations in treaties of neu-
trality with the English. Gen. Jeffrey
Amherst, a brilliant and effective officer,
had succeeded to the command of the
English forces, displacing the incompe-
tent Lord Loudon. In the early summer
of 1759 three great campaigns were ar-
ranged by the English, by one of which
Gen. Amherst was to proceed against
Ticonderoga and Crown Point and invade
Canada by the northern route. He ac-
cordingly advanced against Ticonderoga,
when the French destroyed the fort and
retreated to Fort Frederick at Crown
Point. Amherst followed and the French
fled to an island in the northern part of
Lake Champlain. Thus the whole coun-
try around Lake Champlain fell into the
hands ot the English.

This brings us to the time of building
the road. Gen Amherst wanted men and
supplies for his advance upon Montreal.
Number 4 was the rendezvous for troops
enlisted in Massachusetts and New
Hampshire and the road was necessary.
The then unoccupied territory north of
the Massachusetts line and between the
Connecticut and Hudson rivers was con-
stantly crossed and re-crossed by armed
parties of whites and marauding Indians.
A vast unguarded frontier, unsafe and
liable at any time to be overrun by savage
foes, for which reason what is now Ver-
mont was not sooner settled and occupied
by the whites.

In January, 1727 or '8, the general
court of Boston authorized an exploration
of the country between the northern
frontiers and Canada. One party was to
discover that part lying between the Con-
necticut river and Lake Champlain.
Later traders had explored the old Indian

trail by way of what is now Springfield,
Weather&field. Cavendish, Ludlow and
Plymouth, across the mountains thence
by Otter Creek to Lake Champlain. This
was the route usually taken by Indians
coming down to the Truck House at
Fort Dummer. * *

Tho diary of a journey made in 1730
by a trader, James Cross of Deerfield,
describing the course of the trail and
the country about it was laid before
the government. Mr. Cross' journal
reads as follows :

"Monday Ye 27th April 1730 at about
12 of Ye clocke we left Fort Dummer
and travailed that day three miles and
laid down that night by West River
which is distant 3 miles from Fort
Dummer. JNotabene, I travailed with
12 Canada Mohawks that drank to
great excess at Ye fort and killed a
Skatacook Indian in their drunken
condition that came to smoke with
them.

Tuesday. We travailed upon the
great river (Connecticut) about ten
miles We kept Ye same course upon
Ye Great River, traveled about 10 miles
and eat a drowned Buck that night.

We travailed upon Ye great River
within 2 miles of Ye Great Falls (Bel-
lows Falls) in said River then went
upon land to Ye Black River above
Great Falls. Went up that river and
lodged about a mile and a half from
the mouth of Black River which days
travel we judged was about 10 miles.

Friday. We cross Black River at
Falls (now Springfield Village) after-,
wards through Ye woods Nor North-
west. Then cross BlaGk River again
about 17 miles above our first crossirg.
Afterwards travel Ye same course and
pitched our tents on Ye homeward side
of Black River

Saturday. We crossed Black R;ver
left a great mountain on ye right hand
and another on Ye left (Ludlow ). Keep
a N. W. Course till we pitch our tent
after 11 miles travail by a brook which
we called a branch of Black River.

Sabbath Day. We travailed to Black
River at Ye 3 islands between which
and a large pond we past Ye Black
River and enter a mountain (in Ply-
mouth) that afforded us a prospect of
Ye place of Fort Dummer. Soon after
we enter a descending country and
travail till we reach Arther Creek (Ot-

/

ter Creek) in a descending: land. In
this days travail which is 21 miles we
came upon 7 brooks which ran a S. W.
Course at Ye north end of said moun-
tain ; from Black River to Arther Creek
we judged is 25 miles.

Monday. Made Canoes.

Tuesday. Hindered travailing by
rain. We go in our canoes upon Arther
Creek till we meet 2 great falls (prob-
ably Centre Rutland and Proctor) said
river is very black and deep and sur-
rounded with good land to Ye extrem-
ity of our prospect. This days travail
35 miles.

Thursday. We sail 40 miles on Ar-
ther Creek. We meet with great falls
(Middlebury) and a little above them
we meet two other pretty large falls
(at Weybridge) and about 10 miles we
meet other large falls (probably Ver-
gennes). We carried our canoe by
these falls and came to Ye lake."

The following resolution was passed
by the house of representatives of Mas-
sachusetts on the 10th day of March,
1756: "Whereas, it is of great import-
ance that a thorough knowledge be
had of the distance and practicability
of a communication between Number
4, on the Connecticut River, and
Crown Point, and that the course down
the Otter Creek to Lake Champlain
should be known, therefore; Voted,
that his Excellency, the Governor, be
and he is hereby desired, a9 soon as
maybe, to appoint fourteen men upon
this service; seven of them to go from
said Number Four, direct course, to
Crown Point to measure the distance
and gain what knowledge they can of
the country, and the other seven to go
from Number Four to Otter Creek,
aforesaid, and down said Creek to
Lake Champlain, observing the true
course of said Creek, its depth of wa-
ter, what falls there are in it and
also the nature of the soil on each side
thereof and what growth of wood are
near it. Each party of said men to
keep a journal of their proceedings
and observations and lay thp same, on
their return, before this court. They
to observe all such directions as they
may receive from his excellency.

"One man in each party is to be a
skillful surveyor and the persons em-
ployed shall have a reasonable allow-
ance made them by the court for their
services. "

Col. Israel Williams of Hatfield was
particularly charged with this duty.
It was also proposed to build a strong
fort on the height of land between
Black River and Otter Creek. A mili-
tary post was there deemed important
as it would furnish an opportunity to
prevent the advance of the enemy from
Lake Champlain, facilitate operations
against Ticonderoga and Crown Point
and afford a safe retreat for scouting
parties from the Connecticut river.

In the following summer Lord Loudon
took similar steps for a military road
from the Connecticut, and obtained from
Col Williams a topographical sketch of
the country and reports from the scouting
officers, but nothing further was done at
this time, owing to the number of hostile
Indians infesting the region, and no fur-
ther attempt was then made to build
either the fort or the road.

In the spring of 1759, Capt John Stark,
having enlisted a new company, returned
to Fort Edward and was present under
Gen Amherst at the reduction of Fort
Ticonderoga and Grown Point. Alter
the surrender of Fort Frederick he was
ordered by the general with a force of
200 rangers to construct a road through
the Wilderness from Crown Point to
Number 4 on the Connecticut. A good
wagon road was built from Crown Point
to Otter Creek ; Col Hawks cut a bridle
path thence over the mountains, but for
some reason did not complete the work.

The road commenced at Chimney
Point, a short distance from Crown Point,
in what is now the town of Addison. It
passed through Bridport on the south,
crossing the present road slightly north
of the D. L. Kellogg dwelling-house,
thence through a pasture, where it struck
the north line of the town of Shoreham.
thence across the present highway from
Shoreham village to Bridport. Running
to the southeast it crossed the Lemon
fair, thence over the hill, past a spring,
where evidently parties of Indians had
camped and also troops, in the French
and Indian and revolutionary wars, as
arrow heads, pipes, gun Mints, knives,
earthern ware, and parts of solaiers' arms
were formerly found there. The road

ran thence, through Whiting, to Sud-
bury, by the Sawyer tavern, to Otter
Creek, crossing that stream a short dis-
tance below Miller's bridge, thence
through the western part of Brandon, to
Breese's Mills. It thence followed nearly
the present highway west of the Otter
Creek in Pittsford to what is now Fowler,
a postoffice in the westerly part of Pitts-
ford. Taking an easterly course the
road passed about three rods west of the
Fowler dwelling-house, formerly the Benj.
Stevens house, to a ford on the Otter
Creek known as ''Pitt's" ford, so named
in honor of Wm. Pitt, the English states-
man, the town of Pittsford taking its
name fiom this ford. After crossing the
ford it turned southeasterly, striking the
terrace on which the village of Pittsford
now stands, passing a little west of the
village, thence southerly to the road
leading from what is known as Corn hill
to Proctor, from thence passing between
the present highways leading from Pitts-
ford to Rutland to the old Maj Cheney
tavern near the Pittsford and Rutland
line, following somewhere near the pres-
ent north highway to Main street. Rut-
land, to the Rutland fort, the remains of
which are visible. Passing south to
Clarendon it followed the course of the
present highway for some distance,
thence east to Shrewsbury Centre, from
there passing through Mt. Holly and
Plymouth, perhaps a corner of Ludlow,
to the Twenty-Mile camp. An older
branch of this road and the only one
travelled prior to 1759 (probably an old
Indian trail) passed through Centre Rut-
land northerly to what is now Proctor,
following nearly the west Proctor road
and the present road in Pittsford west of
the Otter Creek, crossing the Hubbard-
ton road, from Pittsford railroad station
about a mile west of the present West
Creek road, continuing northerly to
Breese's mills, thence to Crown Point.
There is a monument marking the spring
mentioned in Shoreham near where the
road passed. The fort in Rutland was
where the two roads united.

Here are some extracts from journal
kept by N. Payson, orderly sergeant of

Capt John Brooks' company of rangers,
Col. Timo. Ruggles' regiment, which
refer to the commencement of the
road.

Camp Half Way Brook, July 4, 1759:

After orders Provo. Shrewsbury,
Maj. Hawks, field officer of the day,
a sergt. and 12 men from Ye lines to
cut and burn all Ye leaves and brush
that air within lines of sentries. No
man is to fell any trees within the
lines of sentries. A working party is
to be paraded immediately, consisting
of one Captain, 2 subs., 3 Sergts. , 50
privates without arms. All guards to
be mounted as usual, as their seems to
be some neglect of exercise, it is ex-
pected for the future it will be more
punctual.

It is very notoriously true that pro-
fane cursing and swearing prevails in
the camp, it is very far from the Chris-
tian Soldiers duty, it is not only very
displeasing to God of Armies but dis-
honorable before men. It is therefore
required and will be expected that for
the future the odious sounds of curs-
ing and swearing is to be turned into
profound silence.
July 5, 1759:

Regimental Order, parole doubling
all the guards, to be mounted as usual.
All axes and spades this day to be un-
packed, having the number exactly
right, that was left for the use of the
camp is wanted, that they may have
them applied to the Quartermaster.
Whoever is found to secure none, and
it be known, will be looked upon as
an embezzler of the King's stores and
must answer accordingly. Lieut. Col.
Ingleson, field officer for the day. He
is to see the pickets paraded and give
them orders in going the rounds, as
for some nights it has been neglected,
all former orders to be obeyed.
Camp Crown Point, Oct. 26, 1759:

Thi3 day we set out to clear a road to
Number 4, we crossed the Jake at
about sunset and then camped.
Saturday, 27th :

Major John Hawks arrived this day
and we set out to clear the road and
cleared as far as the two-mile brook
and camped.
Sabbath Day, 28th :

This day cleared four miles and then
camped.
Monday, 29th :

This day we marched 2 miles and

then came and made a bridge over,
then march 2 miles further and came
to a large stream and camped.
Tuesday, Oct. 30:

We made a great bridge, marched
three miles and camped.
Oct 31:

Marched two miles and then din-
nered.

Herald Letter.

The following description of this
road, written by one whose father had
traveled it, appeared in the Rutland
Herald January 16, 1861:

" I have thought it might interest some
of your readers to see some account of the
old French track or road from old Crown
Point fort to No. 4, (now Charlestown,
N. H.,) previous to the peace bttween
England and France in 1763. My atten-
tion was called to this subject by Mr.
Hager, the state geologist, calling on me
to inform him where it was. I said to
him I had a general knowledge of the
route, but could not answer the direct
question. He then said he must give up
the finding it on the west side of the
mountain ; he could trace the road to
Mount Hollv and no further He then
told the object of the inquiry, which was
that a new state map was in progress and
he wanted to have the track of the old
French road appear on it across the state
from the two points named. And it ex-
cited my mind at once, for the following
reason : My father. Elias Hall, then of
New Cheshire, New Haven county, Con-
necticut, enlisted into the army of Lord
Amherst at Hartford, and the colonel's
name was Whiting. He was at Crown
Point and acted as Sergeant and was on
fatigue duty some of the time in digging
the big well in the northeast angle of the
fort. * * * When I was nineteen
years old, I went to look over my father's
ancient scenes. * * *

Crown Point Fort and Chimney Point
being only half a mile apart, the old
French road started at the latter point to
cross what is now Vermont and across the
mountain. My father, late in the fall of
1759. was taken with rheumatism, and
had permission f:om Lord Amherst to
return home and went in the old French

road, before there was a family in this
section of the country except what I have
named ; and ne is the only individual I
ever knew that walked it.

The first night on his way he stopped
at Camp Cold Spring, near the eastern
part of the town of Shoreham, and six
miles west of Whiting depot, and ten
miles southwest ot Middlebury. I have
forwarded to Mr. Bissell, who owns the
farm where the spring is, a monument, to
be placed there to mark cne spot on the
old French road and to designate the
spot where my deceased parent rested
his weary limbs in the wilderness, one
hundred and eleven years since : and
have suggested two other places to
mark the road, of some importance to
history, from Lake Champlain to Con-
necticut river. I understand that Mr
Hager, the assistant state geologist,
followed the information I communi-
cated to him soon after his application,
and it appears on the new map as
desired. There is no doubt that Pitts-
ford Stockade fort was on the track ;
it then went south three or four miles,
turned southwesterly from the place
where old Capt J. Fassett lived and by
where E. Drury, J. Warner and A.Ladd
lived, in Pittsford; in Rutland by where
Joe Keeler lived more than twenty
years since, by Seth Keeler's to the old
Maj. Cheney place, and then south to
Rutland union store, near which are
the marks of the Rutland fort : then it
went south over four miles, turning
easterly passed the Bowman place and
to the north of Crary's mills, then east
to the road going to Shrewsbury centre
to where Mr White lived eighty years
since, from there to the twenty mile
camp three miles from the old Dutton
tavern stand, and thence to Number L
The brave and celebrated Maj >r Rogers,
after incredible sufferings and hard-
ships, with what men were not starved
on his return, after the destruction of
the St. Francis Indians returned on
this road to Cro vn Point in L759, a.
hazardous expedition."

The eastern end of the road, between
Number 4 and the mountaii . h 18 built
the following summer, 17Gll (one hun-
dred and forty-nine, years »g«») The
work was done by Col John Roffe and
his renewed regiment of eight hundred
New Hampshire men. Tbey hail first

opened a road from the Merrimac to-
wards the Connecticut, clearing a mere
bridle path, as far as Keene, New
Hampshire. They arrived at Number
4 in June. Crossing the river, they
first built a block house, close by the
ferry landing, and enclosed it in pal-
isades, as a protection in case of
trouble. They were 44 or 45 days in
cutting the road to the mountains
where it hit the bridle path cut by Col
Hawks the year previous. At every
mile they set up a post and 26 of these
posts had been placed when the moun-
tain was reached. Their baggage was
carried on ox-teams as far as the
mountains, then pack horses were used.
Such was the speed with which the
work was dispatched that Col Goffe's
^regiment was able to participate in the
final expedition against Montreal, in
-September, 1760.

While on this work an epidemic
Iforoke out among the soldiers employed
mnd several died. Their bodies were
buried at a spot east of the line of the
road, not far from the C. Horace Hub-
bard place in Springfield. The block
house at the river, the land adjoining
and two of tho king's boats, used as a
ferry, were given by Gen Amherst to
Luxford Goodwin in payment for his
carrying a packet from him to Gen
Murray at Quebec. All but a small
part of the road through Springfield ,
was discontinued as early as 1826.

The road was built from a point on
iihe river, not far from where the Che-
shire bridge is now located, just skirt-
ing the southern point of Skitchewaug
'mountain; running north by west
through Springfield it crossed the
Weathersfield line at about the centre,
and passing just east of the Plains
cemetery to near Amsden , thence up
the valley past the Streeter place, to-
wards Greenbush, where it took a more
westerly course up the hill, coming
out near the Atherton place, past the
Joseph H. Adams place, thence north
of Albert Eaton's dwelling to the Mor-
gan bridge, thence northwesterly past
the Jacob S. Parker place and near the
Heald place, from thence it passed
found Mt. Gilead and to this spot on
the southwest side of Gilead. Its
course took it through considerable
soft, swampy ground, which was cord-
uroyed. In some places tbe remains of
this work can be seen today, also where

a brook was bridged, and there is said
to be a cellar hole where Capt Coffin
built his first house on this road in
1769. The later road passed the Chas.
S. Parker place, where Capt Coffin
built his tavern. A'surveyor's map of
the town of Cavendish of 1790 shows
the road as going from the Coffin tav-
ern directly over the hill westerly. It
intersected the other road on the hill
east of here, perhaps one-third mile
from this camp ground. In all proba-
bility the first road was discontinued
on account of its being 30 wet and soft
in places. From here the road passed
westerly near this house (Willis
Spaulding's) , up the hill (where traces
of it cau be seen), probably through a
corner of the town of Ludlow, coming
out at Plymouth Kingdom; thence
down the hill through what was later
known as the ''society lands" to the
ponds. Skirting the banks, from the
Amos Pollard farm northerly to the
head of the upper pond, it crossed the
river and went south of Saltash moun-
tain into Shrewsbury Capt Coffin's
tavern was doing business as late as
18 10, as in an almanac published in
Boston that year there was given a
table of distances with all the taverns
from Boston to Crown Point. There
were then two in this town on the mil-
itary road — Capt Coffin's place and
Paines, six miles east, probably the
place where Joseph S. Atherton now
lives, as that scales about six miles as
the road went. The survey heretofore
mentioned also notes a mill near Mor-
gan bridge on the road.

Without doubt, after the original
road was built, deflections were made
to suit the different settlers who were
not on the line and had established
homes in the vicinity.

Cavendish was first chartered Oct.
12, 1761, by Gov. Wentworth, and later,
from the Province of New York June
16, 1772, to Amos Kimball and associates.

The first actual settlement in Caven-
disn was made in June 1769, when Capt.
John Coffin located and built a dwelling
and later built a tavern on land now
owned and occupiec by Charles S. Par-
ker. His hospitable home during the
revolution afforded thousands of Amer-
ican soldiers shelter and refreshment
while passing from Number 4 to the
military posts on Lake Champlain. —
Capt. Coffin was prominent in affairs,

representing the town in the legislature
in the years 1778, 1781, 1785, 1786. He
was also odo of the selectmen in 1782
and held other town offices. The first
settlers were mostly from Massachusetts
and in 1771 Noadiah Russell andThomas
Gilbert joined Capt Coffin, sharing in
the hardships and privations, attendant
on frontier life, the grinding of a grist
of corn involving a journey of sixty
miles in those days. Noadiah Russell
settled on the spot where J. H. Adams's
house now stands. Mr Gilbert settled
on the Taylor farm on the road to
Greenbush.

While there may be some question as
to the original location of the road at
some points, there is no doubt whatever
as to the location of this camp ground
used by the soldiers from 1760 on, first
by the English army and later by the
army of the Revolution, as authenti-
cated by Capt James Hall who passed
on several years since, an aged man who
passed his youth in this vicinity and
had seen the remains of the old build-
ings in his boyhood and pointed out
the spot to his descendants and others.
This camp ground being about twenty
miles from Number 4, was known as the
Twenty Mile encampment and gave the
namH to this brook as " Twenty Mile
■Stream," by which name it has all
through the past years been designated.

Many provincial leaders who took part
in the French and English war on the
English side afterwards became famous
in the war of the Revolution on the
American side, notably, Gens Washing-
ton, Israel Putnam, Stark and Hawks*
Benj Franklin was also major of militia
under the king, but found military
life not to his taste and resigned.

As to Number 4. First— As early as
1703 there was a white settlement or
colony at Deerfield, protected by a
stockade.

Second— About 1714 a fort was built
at Vernon, known as Bridgman and
Startwell's fort, destroyed by Indians
1717.

Third— Fort Dummer at Brattleboro
was built in 1721 and in 1713 Number
4 was built, being the fourth on the
Connecticut river.

The chairman, in paving" the way
for the next address, went on to say:
"I am sure we are all under great

obligations to Mr. Burbank for hav-
ing- given us such a complete account
of this British military road, and I
hope that a permanent record may
be made of it. The results following
the building- of this road must have
been in a crude way similar to those
following- the building- of a railroad
throug-h an undeveloped country, in
that it opened the way for new set-
tlers. It is evident that the first
settler in town, Capt. John Coffein,
located at that particular point by
reason of reaching- that point over
this road, as did also James Smith
who located here, and many of the
other early settlers. While this
road was no doubt admirably adapt-
ed to the purpose for which it was
built, yet as it unfortunately cut
across the state from southeast to
northwest and across the hills and
valleys instead of parallel with them,
it could not long satisfy the require-
ments of the settlers when the conn-
try was .developed, and this section
of the road was soon abandoned.

"Many people have expressed sur-
prise at the judgment of the early
settlers in locating apparently at
the most inaccessible places — on
the very tops, almost, of these hills,
when the land was so much better
in the valleys. The hills to the easl
of us were lined with homes and tin-
Bond place, or as it was later known,
the Weeks place, is the only one now-
occupied. New settlers, as a rule,
locate on the hills or slopes in pref-
erence to the valleys, for various
reasons. The land is more easily
cleared, the stumps removed, etc.,
and the location much more health-
ful than in the valleys. These early
settlers, having no available mar-
kets and having to travel in some
cases ()0 miles in going to mill with
corn, were interested primarily in
raising from the soil merely enough
to supply their personal wants tot
food and clothing, so that a health-
ful and convenient location where
the land was easily cleared was

more to be desired than the condi-
tion of the soil.

"I have always understood that
the land owned by my grandfather,
James Smith, Jr-, was given to Su-
sannah Coffein, wife of Capt. John
Coffein, as she was the only woman
who resided in Cavendish through-
out the entire period of the Revolu-
tionary war, and at whose home
thousands of Revolutionary soldiers
received refreshment while on their
march to Ticonderoga from Charles-
town, N. H. She lived to be 94 years
old and died in 1824. She is said to
have been a very plain looking
woman, and on one occasion when
this rather delicate subject was re-
ferred to in the course of conversa-
tion in the hearing of Capt. John,
he is said to have spoken up with
considerable energy and said that
while his wife might not be noted
for her beauty, for a good many
years she was the handsomest
woman in town!"

Address by Gilbert A. Davis.

• Hon Gilbert A. Davis of Windsor
was then introduced, and said : "A

placing of this tablet, mentioned
that it was to be placed in an ob-
scure corner of the town on a high-
way little traveled, and he wondered
why it should attract so much at-
tention. The idea of my friend
seemed to be that this marking of
the old Crown Point road and the
site of the encampment of the sol-
diers who built it and incidentally
the log house, and tavern of Capt
Wm. Coffein, were matters of rather
slight significance."

Mr Davis took issue with the
friend in question, maintaining that
the proper and most notable object
Qf history is to record the vicissi-
tudes of society, its spirit in differ-
ent ages and the causes which de-
termine its progress or decline. He
emphasized the fact that the be-
ginnings of great results are often
very humble, and cited the birth of
Christ, the coming of the Pilgrims
to Plymouth, and the numerous in-
ventions of past years, to prove his
point. He then went on to say :

I learn from a diary kept by one
James Cross that in April, 1730, he
and his associates traveled from
Fort Dummer (in Vermont) to Lake

friend in writing to me about theCh amplain via Bellows Falls, Spring -

ON THE MEADOW NEAR THIS SPOT
WAS LOCATED THE
T W E U TV M I L E EN C A M P WENT
ON THE LIME OF THE

BRITISH MILITARY ROAD

BUILT BY ORDER OF GENERAL .AMHERST
FROM FORT NO, 4 (CHARLES TOWN N,H»)
TO CROWN POINT AND FORT TICONDEROGA

CONSTRUCTION BEGUN OCTOBER 1759 AT
L A KE CHAM PLA IN BT MAJv JOHN HAWKS;
EASTERN PART FROM CONNECTICUT
RIVER TO MOUNTAINS BUILT IN SPRING
OF 1 760 BY COL* JOHN GOFF

THI S TA 6t E T f « ECTE D 1 9 09 BY
DESCENDANTS OF THE FIRST SETTLERS

The Tablet.

field Great Falls— following Black
river through Ludlow to Plymouth
and then over the mountain to
Otter Creek to the lake. This trip
occupied two weeks.

As early as 1725 there was a well-
defined Indian trail or road from
Lake Champlain to Fort Dummer
which followed up the Otter Creek
to its source, then crossed the
Green Mountains and struck the
headwaters of Black river and fol-
lowed that river down to the Con-
necticut and down the Connecticut
to Fort Dummer. The importance
of the territory now occupied in
part by Cavendish soon became
thoroughly known to the English
nation and attracted the attention
of King Geo. Ill and his august
council.

The speaker referred to hostilities
between England and France and
the extent to which New England
suffered therefrom, and spoke brief-
ly of the well-known incident involv-
ing the capture of the Johnson fam-
ily by the Indians. He also spoke
of the action of the Massachusetts
house (already touched on by a pre-
vious speaker) regarding the build-
ing of a road. Reference was made
to Gen Amherst's determination to
complete the subjugation of the
French, and his plans for approach-
ing Montreal by three different
routes. The men under the com-
mand of Col John Goffe, having met
at Charlestown, were commanded
to cut a road across the present
state of Vermont, thus opening a
direct communication by land be-
tween Connecticut river and Lake
Champlain. The road began at
Wentworth's Ferry, two miles above
the fort at Charlestown, and was
laid out twenty-six miles in the
course of Black river, as far as the
present town of Ludlow, where com-
menced a path which had been
made the year before by Lieut-Col
Hawks. In this they passed over
the mountains to Otter creek.

thence along the borders of that
stream in a good road previously
constructed, to Crown Point. * *
While the New Hampshire regiment
were engaged in cutting the road,
the trails of Indians were occasion-
ally seen in the adjacent woods, but
no hostilities followed. The last in-
cursion of the Indians on the fron-
tiers of New England during the war
was at Charlestown, whence the
family of Joseph Willard were taken
and carried to Montreal, a short
time previous to its investment by
the English. No less personages
than John Stark and Lieut-Col
Hawks worked on this road in 1759.

The building of this Crown Point
road through Cavendish was a mat-
ter of much more importance than
at first it would seem to have been.
Lake Champlain and Lake George
had been regarded as of the utmost
importance in holding possession of
the Western continent. It was for
this reason that millions of dollars
had been spent in building and main-
taining Fort Ticonderoga, Crown
Point on Lake Champlain and Fort
William Henry on Lake George. A
block house was built in 1760 two
miles above Charlestown, X. H.. on
the Vermont side in Springfield.
This Crown Point road kept on the
high lands and away from the
swamps and wet lands of the val-
leys and made substantially a bee
line to this point on the Twenty-
Mile Stream.

With this Crown Point road for
communication and transportation
of munitions of war and movements
of soldiers and the control of the
Hudson river, the British were as-
sured of the permanent control of
this continent. The results proved
the wisdom of the military leaders,
and in the autumn of 17<>(> the
French in Canada were overpowered
and English supremacy in North
America was established from the
Atlantic to the Mississippi river and
from the frozen North to the r\vr

glades of Florida. You will now
see the importance of this road as a
war measure.

Upon the establishment of peace,
the settlement of Vermont began. Gov
Benning Wentworth claimed that the
western boundary of the province of
New Hampshire was a line 20 miles
east of the Hudson river and proceed-
ed to charter townships as far west on
that line. By 1764 he had chartered
118 townships and had given 14,000
acres to his favorites. It was on Oct.
12, 1761, that Cavendish was charl ered.
Plymouth under the name of Saltash,
Keading and Windsor were all granted
on July 6, 1761. •

The settlement of this part of Ver-
mont, including Cavendish, Ludlow,
Reading and Plymouth, progressed
with rapidity. The soldiers who were
engaged in building this road had
learned of the fertile soil, the valuable
timber, the beautiful valleys and
abundant chances for homes and for-
tunes along the line of this old mili-
tary road, and settlements rapidly were
made. They brought with them the
Christian church, the public school,
sterling integrity, the New England
town meeting, the love of liberty,
hatred of king craft, independence of
thought, and love for self-government.
It was of this class of men that the
rank and file of the army of the Revo-
lution was made. * * In 1783 the
publication of two newspapers was be-
gun in Vermont. The Vermont Ga-
zette, at Bennington, June f>, 1783;
The Vermont Journal at Windsor, Aug.
7, 1783. Each of these have been is-
sued weekly since that date. It is a
curious fact to notice that in 1790
Reading had 747 inhabitants ; Plymouth
(then. Saltash) had 106; Cavendish
491, Ludlow 179, and the whole state
of Vermont 85,341.

The people of the New Hampshire
"Grants, as Vermont was then called,
had no representation in the conven-
tion that adopted the declaration of
Independence on July 4, 1776, because
this territory was then regarded by
outsiders as a part of New York. But
this was not the sentiment among the
sturdy settlers of Vermont. As you
are aware, at the convention held a
Westminster Jan. 15, 1777, Vermont
Was declared to be an independent

state. Cavendish was not represented
at the convention which sat at Wind-
sor in July, 1777, and adopted the con-
stitution and organized the free and
independent state of Vermont, but
Andrew Spear sat in that convention
as the representative of Reading.
However, Cavendish was loyal to the
new republic and Capt. James Coffein
was the representative of Cavendish
in 1778.

Do you sufficiently recognize the im-
portant part that this old road bore in
establishing the supremacy of the Eng-
lish on this continent? The French
had discovered and settled Canada.
They were Catholics and under the
domination of the Roman Catholic
church and were the hereditary ene-
mies of the English. The English
were Protestants and had discovered
and settled New England and had ac-
quired supremacy over the Dutch in
New York and claimed dominion in-
definitely to the west. The Spaniards
claimed the Mississippi river and to
the west of it. The Indian tribes had
become allies to the French and were
hostile to the New England settlers.
The English must hold New England
and New York and to the indefinite
west, or all was lost.

The English statesmen and English
military leaders of that day grasped
the situation, and this military road
from No. 4 to Crown Point became the
key to the situation, and it was built
by the British government. It was no
insignificant event, but an enterprise
of great national importance. And we
do well to honor it and mark its loca-
tion, as has been done from the Con-
necticut river along its lineup into
Weathersfield. * * Unless this road
had been built, perhaps George Wash-
ington, Gen. Stark, Ethan Allen and
thousands of others including Sergt.
James Hall and Private Samuel Ames,
whose descendants unveil and decorate
this tablet today, — men whom we just-
ly regard as patriots and heroes, would
have been classed as rebels and trait-
ors; the declaration of American inde-
pendence would have been regarded as
a crime and a blunder; there would
have beeu no free and independent
state of Vermont. No national ensign
which we designate as "Old Glory,"
with its 13 stripes and 46 stars We
should not be here today to honor the

soldiers of the Revolution who settled
in this neighborhood and whose de-
scendants have conceived and carried
out the noble enterprise of placing this
marker, and whose fair daughters un-
veil it i"o the view of not only the in-
habitants who have gathered here to-
day, but for the future generations of
the hardy sons and daughters of Ver-
mont.

This tablet will strengthen our love
for Vermont, with its heroic history,
its beautiful valleys and rugged hills,
its hardy sons and daughters, its in-
vigorating climate and the sturdy char-
acters of its inhabitants.

The Daughters of the American Rev-
olution are to take the care and cus-
tody of this marker. It is for such
patriotic duties that that organization
exists. Its mission is a noble one. We
can not too highly commend them for
their unselfish labors. Woman, the
last at the cross and the first at the
sepulchre, by accepting such trusts
has ever been the keeper of the best
interests of mankind. Let no vandal
hand mar this tablet!

Was New England worth saving to
the English ? Was Vermont worth sav-
ing? Was the site of this encampment
and the towns contiguous thereto
worth saving?

The territory within a dozen miles
having the point of the radius at this
encampment has a long list of sons and
daughters who have achieved distinc-
tion in the varied walks of civil and
military life. You know them all. I
will not particularize only to mention
that this territory has furnished four
governors for Vermont and one secre-
tary of war and United States senator,
and two supreme court judges.

Mr Davis closed with an earnest
tribute to Vermont and her citizens,
and quoted Prince Bismarck's famous
compliment to the state — namely: "To
be a son of Vermont is glory enough
for the greatest citizen."

Chairman Bigelow, in introducing
the next speaker, said : "The town of
Cavendish has furnished a great many
strong men — men strong in its local
affairs, and in the affairs of the state
and nation. I cannot well call the
long roll of families that have been
prominent in its affairs, but I wish to

mention the familv from whom Proc-
torsville derived its name. It is a
matter for regret that it is not possi-
ble to have with us today a daughter
of that family, 86 years of age, 90
many of whose years were 9pent here —
Mrs Wm. Smith— and for whom W6 al-
ways have had and always will have
the deepest affection. The early mem-
bers of this family were unusually
strong men and took a prominent part
in all local affairs. Later they fur-
nished the state of Vermont two gov-
ernors, one of them Cavendish's moat
illustrious son, the Hon Redfield Proc-
tor, who served the state so many years
as governor and United States senator,
and who throughout his long career as
secretary of war and United States sen-
ator so ably maintained the high pres-
tige the state of Vermont has always
held in governmental affairs, a prestige
entirely disproportionate to the size of
the state, and who was known and rec-
ognized every whers as one of the strong
men of this nation. It is our rare
good fortune to have with us this af-
ternoon his son — who is not only one
of the busiest men in the state of Ver-
mont, but keeps more people busy
than any other man in the state."

Ex=Governor Proctor.

Ex-Governor Fletcher D. Proctor
was then presented and received a cor-
dial greeting. He spoke briefly, re-
ferring to the occasion as one of real
merit and genuine pleasure, and ex-
pressed his personal gratification at
the opportunity to visit the town at
such a time. He reminded his listeners
that while but a small part of his own
life had been spent there, Cavendish
was for many generations the home of
his father's and his mother's families.
He told of the rivalry which at one
time existed a9 between Duttonsville
(where the Duttons lived) and Proc-
torsville (where the Proctors lived),
and the expectation that the marriage
of a Proctor with a Dutton would do
away with this rivalry. The ex-Gov-
ernor referred to the strong character
and great ability of his grandmother
Proctor,and his father's devotion to her
and love and reverence for her mem-
ory ; and referred to the stones in the

«metery as proving how many mem-
bers of the two families with which he
was directly connected had lived and
-died in the town. The speaker urged
the desirability of memorials like this
tablet as reminders of past unselfish
service and sacrifice — memorials which
should lead us to appreciate more fully
our duty as citizens. He emphasized
the deep interest which the late Sena-
tor Proctor had always felt in the town
of Cavendish and its development;
touched upon the historic associations
which cluster around this locality;
and from the standpoint of a loyal
Vermonter eulogized his state and all
it stood for, urging the continued cul-
tivation of the patriotism and devotion
that had made possible the proud po-
sition Vermont had attained.

Allen M. Fletcher.

The chairman then referred to an-
other family which played an import-
ant part in the town's early history,
and which furnished the state with a
governor and a lieutenant-governor —
the Fletcher family. He did not claim
the gift of prophecy, and so could not
say definitely whether Cavendish would
•ever furnish the state with another
governor by that name or not; but he
introduced Hon Allen M. Fletcher,
calling on him for a word or two. Mr
Fletcher spoke of the fact that this
country had been originally settled by
the Puritan in New England, and the
cavalier in the South, and from these
two strains our citizenship has largely
sprung. He had sometimes thought it
would have been better for the nation
if we could, in our development, have
kept more closely to these two. He
spoke of the coming of the millions of
foreigners, and said we must make the
best of it and assimilate these strang-
ers to our advantage and theirs. The
speaker, taking up a remark by ex-Gov
Proctor, jocosely referred to the good
judgment displayed by the late Sena-
tor Proctor in naming his son
"Fletcher."

A Descendant of the Smith Fam=
ily Speaks.

In introducing the next speaker,
William Smith of Springfield, a son of
the William Smith whose life was so

completely connected with the devel-
opment of this section of country, Mr
Bigelow paid due tribute to the char-
acter of this citizen of the early days,
referring to him as a grand type of
pure-minded and unselfish manhood.
The ancestor, James Smith, who rep-
resented Cavendish in the legislature
for 13 consecutive years, was also
eulogized. Then the Springfield repre-
sentative of the name was presented
and made a short address. He said:

It is not an easy undertaking to fit-
tingly express m> pleasure at being
able to come here on this particular
occasion. I think our friend, Mr.
Spaulding, has earned our thanks for
his public-spirited and untiring efforts
that have made it possible, and am
sure each of you will thank him your-
self.

Personally, the scene presents more
than a passing interest. Not only do I
see the home of my birth, but the hills,
woods, fields, brooks and roads that
surround it; the setting has changed
little, the detail more; one misses some
oldtime familiar trees, buildings and
faces. They are changed or forever
gone. * * My grandfather, James
Smith, acquired this farm about 1790,
and until 1888 the farm had had but two
owners. The very names of my grand-
father's neighbors are also gone, or to
be found only on the headstones in the
cemetery two miles distant. It is in-
teresting to recall those names — Hall,
Wheeler, Bates, Spaulding, Fullam,
French, Parker and others.

Between the Reading line, the north
limit of my father's farm, and the top
of the hill one mile this side of Proc-
torsville, in the valley of the brook and
road, I can name to you at least thir-
teen locations where I have seen either
the buildings or cellar excavations,
and where today, in some cases, there
is hardly a trace of even the excava-
tions. The only new additional house
I recall in the district named is on
Mrs Spaulding's farm. There are the
locations only of eight distinct, now
extinct, local industries in the same
territory; the sawmill is the sole per-
manent industry now alive.

The number of the people has also
lessened, just how many in 40 years I
cannot say. In our neighboring town
of Reading, I am told, there are some
600 or 700 inhabitants, as against 1300

or 1400 fifty years ago ; and I question
if Cavendish, even with her two vil-
lages and factories, has maintained
her number of inhabitants of fifty
years ago.

But this is not a historical address;
time forbids. But it is well to stop
•once in a while in our busy lives and
note more carefully than in usual
thought the changes that have occurred
in our own remembrance before mem-
ory is too dimmed by the lapse of time,
and it is increasingly fitting to perma-
nently mark in a dignified manner
with suitable memorial, as this carved
granite slab, itself a memorial of a
local oldtime industry, the places and
events that filled the lives of our fore-
fathers. After all, in the last analysis
it is what people do that counts. We
forgive hasty speech when the actions
•square, but we do not forgive the ac-
tions that give the lie to fair speech.

Our growth and progress spring
mainly from three sources, the in
stincts planted in us by nature and
heredity, the recorded experiences of
others before us or among us, and our
own experiences; the inventor and
genius stand in classes by themselves.
# *

Without knowing their mind in the
matter, we can safely accuse the build-
ers of not having followed the line of
least resistance in locating their roads.
Tne mind and trail of an Indian are
usually direct, but not always adapted
to the needs of white men of today.
On the whole, we must admit good
judgment in location, even if it does
not cover the route our later sight
would assign to their foresight; they
did the best they could, no human be-
ing does better or more than that.
This road restored to the conditions of
its palmiest days would hardly invite
the autoniobilists of the present day,
and yet it served its place and time
well; the people that passed over it to
points beyond or settled by the way
were different from the dwellers of our
day. Notice the adjective "different,"
not in the basic qualities that main-
tain a community or nation, so much as
the adventurous hardy spirit that sub-
dues the wilderness, overcomes hard-
ships and adds to settled lands.

These people had their faults and
made their mistakes, as we have our
faults and make our mistakes. No

(

people or nation are without them, yet
few districts or valleys like ihis in
which we are met have less to regret,
or wish changbd. It has been and is
the home of an upright, law-abiding,
thrifty people; the vicious, the law-
breaking, the lazy and shiftless are
the exception. The witness to these
statements cannot be denied — the good
roads, the well kept farms, the neat
schoolhouses, the people themselves.
* * The Almighty writes a legible
hand in his own way, sometimes rap-
idly, sometimes slowly, and communi-
ties no less than people show it. These
qualities just named add largely to
the money value of your farms and
homes. Take these qualities away
from the people, with no observance of
the Sabbath or attendance at church,
or at least respect for what the church
stands for, and you soon have what our
late President Roosevelt taught us to
term * 'undesirable citizens anp com-
munities. "

We are not responsible for the hered-
ity with which we came into the world.
We are responsible more or less for the
use we make of our gifts. We are not
often responsible for the experience of
others, but we fail to grasp at all the
meaning of life if we do not fairly in-
terpret the experience of others and
ourselves.

We call this history. How many of
us read history, or have been taught it
in the schoolhouse yonder? 1 hope it
is taught differently than in my school
days. The fact of a battle, of a con-
vention, or a great movement is of lit-
tle moment: the why of it and the re-
sult of it are everything. The facts
of the battles of Bunker Hill and Get-
tysburg are but little, compared with
the understanding of why they occur-
red and the results that tiow from
them. John Brown was hanged ; as a
fact what of it, other people have been
hanged before and since; but the soul
of such events goes marching on.

We live in the present only ; the past
is beyond our grasp and the future un-
certain. The railroad, the new inven-
tions, the combinations of industry,
the changed demands of time, have
mostly destroyed the small industries
that at one time filled this and other
valleys. The farm and its alped inter-
ests are alone left as profitable employ-
ment.

It is for us, as it was for our ances-
tors and for those who come after us,
to make good in our time and place,
that it may be said finally of us not
only that we have done our work, not
only that we have done it well, but
that we have each one done our best.

Mr. Smith emphasized certain por-
tions of his address by apt narrative.

Tablet Turned Over to the D. A. R.

In turning the tablet over to the
care of Lucy Fletcher chapter, D. A.
R. , Mr Bigelow spoke appreciatively
of the work being done in New Eng
land by the Daughters of the Ameri-
can Revolution, in keeping alive the
memory of men and events of colonial
and Revolutionary times. He then
presented the tablet to the local chap-
ter, to be cared for during the coming
years, insisting that the chapter should
have the hearty co-operation of the
people of this section in whatever
work it undertook.

Mrs R. E. Hathorn, regent of Lucy
Fletcher chapter, accepted the tablet
in behalf of that organization; then
expressing thanks for the confidence
shown by the presentation, and prom-
ising that the place and the day would
not be forgotten by members of the
chapter, and that frequent visits would
be made to renew the flag which had
been placed upon the marker, Mrs
Hathorn went on to say : It is the ob-
ject of the D. A R. to perpetuate the
memory of the spirit of the men and
women who achieved American inde-
pendence, by the acquisition and pro-
tection of historical spots and the erec-
tion of monuments; by the encourage-
ment of historical research in relation
to the revolution and the publication
of its results; by the preservation of
documents and relics and the record of
the individual services of Revolution-
ary soldiers, by the celebration of his-
torical anniversaries. The Daughters
of Vermont have pledged their assist-
ance in marking and restoring this
trail through our state. The need for
this is urgent in the extreme, for soon
the memory of living man will not be
ours to give advice and assistance, and
we are in danger of losing all signs of
this once famous of roads save the few
mentions of it in printed text.

The object of marking this historic
trail and encampment is the same as
that of marking any other great battle-
field of history. History does not re*
cord a battlefield of greater endurance,
and we should take pride in preserving
and marking these old boundaries
which have for us so much interest.
And we must not allow our past to slip
away from us, but talk our history,
teach our history, and live surrounded
by its memorials. In the measure we
keep the memories of the heroic past
fresh in the minds of our people, so
patriotic fervor is fanned, the flag
move revered, and our national stabil-
ity better assured, and I hope and
trust tbat every Daughter will person-
ally give her assistance and co-opera-
tion in this great work, that future
generations may know of the great
struggle, thus developing public opin-
ion and affording to young and old
such advantages as shall develop in
them the largest capacity for perform-
ing the duties of American citizens,
and to aid in securing for mankind all
the blessings of liberty.

Notes.

The attendance is variously estimat-
ed at from 600 to 850.

The stone post on which the tablet
appears, dated July 4, 1840, was the
capstone to the old Ordway grist mill;
its length is 14 feet; it is set in 63^
feet of solid concrete, and stands 7 1-2
feet above ground.

A more those present was Thomas
Lane, who can claim the proud dis-
tinction of being the son of a Revolu-
tionary soldier. Mr Lane now has in
his possession a portion of the money
his father received when his service in
the Continental army was completed.

Following is an extract from a letter
from Rev J. Mervin Hull of Concord,
Mass. : "If it were possible I would
surely be present to enjoy and partici-
pate in the occasion. On all sides I
notice an awakened interest in histori-
cal matters, and I regard it as one of
the hopeful signs of the times. For
safe progress we need a backward as
well as a forward look, and the cour-
age, the devotion, the patient bearing
of trials and privations, the manifes-
tation of neighborly kindness, the gen-

uine patriotism of those early days,
have many great lessons to teach the
twentieth century. Success to the
Twenty-Mile Stream day!" This is
but a type of a hundred letters received

during- the past two weeks.

The tablet was made by M. H. Mos-
man of Chicopee, Mass., and i<* of
statuary bronze, its size being 14x19
inches.

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